Product Feature - Pop Culture

December brings new exciting memories as well as past childhood ones during this exciting Christmas season. We all hope and wish for things during the Christmas season, and right now, there's no better time to design. Handmade gifts have an extra special meaning, and they can be therapeutic to make for the designer. For this post, I, Ainsley, worked with Mackie to create several pieces of jewelry using our new products.

This month's new product release, the Pop Culture Collection, is this mid-month post's focus, and in our designs, we've used a variety of colorful seed beads. There are two types of materials used in this collection, wood and metal. The foodstuffs charms and pendants are comprised of metal. The music, gaming and sneaker charms are comprised of baltic birch wood. Because of the different materials, we can create jewelry with lots of different textures; this gives the designs a fresh look.

You can make any of the designs below with our jewelry kits; our jewelry kit bundles show any products used in the jewelry design. Shop our Hand Tools for any designing needs you may have.

Time to begin creating with this month's inspiration...

Great music, chucks and junk food, does it get any better than that? This nostalgic collection of vintage favorites and delicacies will make the memories flow. But these colorful symbols of expression are not only a nod to the past, they are just as relevant today as they were 40 years ago. The current pop-culture has grabbed the best from each of the vintage and retro eras and has made a full swing comeback. Our creative in-house design team is so excited to introduce to you this eclectic and expressive Pop Culture Collection!

Don't miss out on the several beads used in this collections including; Czech Cobalt Seed Beads, Czech Opaque Denim Matte Seed Beads, Czech Chalk Matte Seed Beads, Czech Light Green Ceylon Seed Beads, Czech Pink Ceylon Seed Beads, Czech Bright Silver Seed Beads, Czech Yellow Ceylon Seed Beads, Czech Light Orange Seed Beads, Czech Opaque Gray Seed Beads, Baby Blue Opal Fire Polished Round Bead and Howlite Dyed Chinese Turquoise Faceted Round Beads.

Seed Beads are so fun to work with; they allow so much room for creativity in colors and design. Since the Pop Culture Collection is so bright and colorful, seed beads were the perfect element to pair with our new pieces!

   

Tie-Dye Headphones Necklace Kit - designed by Mackie

The Tie-Dye Headphones Necklace features our new Wood Tie-Dye Headphones Pendant. Mackie compliments the pendant by choosing seed bead colors that suitably accent it. Seed beads have tons of possibilities when using them to design; you can create a pattern or arrange them randomly. There's so much room for different styles and feels while using them. Mackie created several patterns in her beading, and this allows the Tie-Dye Headphones Necklace to have an interesting appearance because not everything is symmetrical. Her design is young, fresh and perfect for an everyday casual look.

   

Pizza Heart Necklace Kit - designed by Mackie

The Pizza Heart Necklace uses a warm, bright color palette. In this design, Mackie actually created two necklaces to allow layering, and the longer of the two features our Pizza Hearts Pendant which is complemented nicely by the seed bead color palette. The shorter necklace of the two highlights color blocking in its seed bead pattern while the longer necklace has a precise repetitive pattern to it. The Pizza Heart Necklace has a fun, youthful design perfect for a relaxed look.

Game Controller Necklace Kit - designed by Ainsley

The Game Controller Necklace is a simple gender-neutral design that exhibits mixed metals. I used our Vintaj Natural Brass and Artisan Copper to give the piece a more industrial feel. The Game Controller Necklace uses genuine leather in the color Denim Blue that nicely compliments the yellow shade of the Wood Game Controller. To learn more about any skills needed to assemble this piece, take a look at our Vintaj Skills School for video tutorials and other reading material.

   

Game Over Bracelet- designed by Mackie

Featuring an asymmetrical design, the Game Over Bracelet uses a chunkier piece of chain and a thin, beaded strand to compliment the size of the pendants used in this design as well as color. The Baby Blue Opal Fire Polished Round Beads nicely accent the purple of the Game Over Pendant while the Czech Yellow Ceylon Seed Beads tie in with the Game Over Pendant's background. The stacking of the chain and beading enhances the Game Over Bracelet; it creates an already stacked look that will sit properly. Mackie's Game Over Bracelet is unique, hip and trendy.

   

Boom Baby Bracelet Kit - designed by Ainsley

The Boom Baby Bracelet features a Wood Boombox that is a lovely shade of pink. For this bracelet, I created an earthy, hipster look by using our Vintaj Natural Brass and pairing it with our Artisan Copper. These mixed metals combined mimic the natural tones that occur in nature allowing them to have a very earthy look, and by partnering them with the Wood Boombox that includes a pop of color, I can give the piece a more youthful, hipster look. 

   

Munchies Bracelet Kit - designed by Ainsley & Mackie

The Munchies Bracelet was a collabed design. I designed the charm bracelet while Mackie created the seed bead bracelet. I collabed on this design with Mackie, so I could tie our pieces all together because our designs offer different styles. I used a mixture of Natural Brass and Sterling Silver to achieve this since my other designs featured Natural Brass while Mackie's featured Sterling Silver. I also used Leather Cord to help keep a consistent theme. Mackie's seed bead bracelet helps bring in a final element to really make the designs feel connected overall. I hope you enjoy this playful fun design!

Fringe Rock Keychain Kit - designed by Ainsley

The Fringe Rock Keychain channels rustic rock with its earthy, muted tones. The tassel brings old west elements into the design such as fringe which many rock 'n' roll stars have sported. The tassel can easily be created using Leather Cord, a Jump Ring and our Filigree Tube Bead that can easily be opened and closed. All you need to do is to cut the Leather Cord into several pieces of the same length, string the Leather Cord pieces through the Jump Rings and pinch the Filigree Tube Bead around the Leather Cord pieces. We have a similar design tutorial on our Vintaj Skills School called Making a Leather Fringe Tassel Pendant. Hope you enjoy this rock-inspired keychain design!

   

Retro Arcade Switch Earrings Kit - designed by Ainsley

The Retro Arcade Switch Earrings are a playful young design that features the Wood 2 Player Set; each earring has a different color wooden piece while the rest of the design is uniform. The Retro Arcade Switch Earrings are also incredibly easy as well as fast to make because the only skill you need is opening and closing a jump ring. Let this design bring nostalgia through the retro red and blue 2 player controllers wooden pendants, or be inspired by the retro games of the past. 

 

Thanks for taking the time to see the Pop Culture Collection jewelry kit designs by Mackie and me! I had a blast creating these designs for the new Pop Culture products. I hope you enjoy creating any of my designs and learned something new. Don't forget about our Skills School to review or learn any techniques you don't know yet. Browse our entire Vintaj Hand Tools collection for all your jewelry making needs. Hope you've received plenty of inspiration to create for this Holiday Season!

Happy Designing ~ Ainsley

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